This blog is a forum for those who claim Warwick, NY as their hometown as well as those who have had experiences there that they wish to share. It is a means for reconnecting with both place and people. It invites the sharing of stories of the distant as well as the recent past. Its stories, when possible, are in some way connected with a photograph or artifact originating from Warwick, NY.

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Old Photograph

Raymond Benedict, c.1942. I found this photograph sitting on some leaves one Fall day when the neighborhood kids and I were playing around Church Street some thirty years ago [more specifically 1974/1975 when I was 11/12 years old ]. We all thought that it looked like Lee Majors from The Six Million Dollar Man. My guess is that the photo came from the old VFW which was once headquartered in the quonset roofed addition to the old Warwick Hospital building on Forrester Avenue. I remember telling Joel Benedict, who was a few years older than me in school, that I had found this photograph. This is Raymond Benedict of Bellvale, NY.

Mrs. Baum's Class (c.1955?); John Porvaznik is the kid with glasses, and my mom, Cheryl [Miller] Schmick (1944-2004) is the first girl standing in the back row on the left side. Recognize anyone else? To Mrs. Baum's left is John Baird. I have a larger version of this in digital form if anyone would like a copy just email me.

This photo and those that follow were taken in the 1930s when my great grandfather and mother, [Johann] Phillip Kiel and Katherine Schlagel Kiel owned this dairy farm located at the corner of County Rt. 1 and Horseshoe Lane in Little York, Pine Island.

Two of a number of toy lead soldiers I unearthed on one of the Raynor's old dumps on Fair Meade Farm in the early 70s while fishing trout in the nearby creek.

Fair Meade Farm, Rt.94 not visible but cuts through center of this view. The lone tree in the field is still there, c.1960.

Fair Meade Farm, before Twin State Ford ( Leo Kaytes Ford) c.1960.

Fair Meade Farm, Rt.94.The apple orchard above the Warwick Drive-In as it looked. Notice the old steel reinforced concrete posts and cable fence that ran along this stretch of Rt.94; many a car got taggled up in that until they removed it (c.1960).

Just before the bridge on Sanfordville Rd. was a farm. The barns had been re-painted and repaired after seemingly sitting unused for many years when I snapped this picture. There was a small two-story house that went with this barn. For many years, that house was occupied by Travi Jackson and his family. The house burned to the ground sometime in the 1970s (c.1987).

The old bridge on Sanfordville Rd. It was closed sometime before the 80s, but I remember the thrill of going over this bridge in a car years before (c.1987).

The railroad tracks stretching under the old bridge on Sanfordville Rd. (c.1987).

The Sanford (Lawrence) Farm, c.1940. This aerial view includes the Lehigh & Hudson railyards as well as some of the Pelton Farm. My grandfather, Paul Miller, rented this farm between c.1938-1947, so the equipment parked about the outbuildings was his. This includes the tractor which I believe to be his first.

The Creek (Black Rock Creek?) I have to admit that I don't know the name of this creek that runs down Moe Mountain on the west side of Fair Meade Farm through a culvert under Rt.94 on to what was the east side of Fair Meade Farm (Petrucci property) where it formed a pond which ran on behind the old Decker Farm (?).

The Creek ( Black Rock Creek?), c.1987. This photo was taken somewhere above Fair Meade Farm on Moe Mountain. This is the creek that seemingly runs all the way from behind the South Street Extension housing development. My friends and I fished some trout out of this creek back in the mid-1970s. I was recently informed by an old friend who grew up near the creek that all the building in the last twenty years has sucked up all the ground water leaving this creek nothing more than a trickle.

Railroad Lantern

An Adams & Westlake of Chicago, IL Railroad Signaling Lantern, Adlake Model No. 250, c.1923. There is a convex stamp on top that reads "C__R CO. of NJ. It is my belief that this was from The Central Railroad of New Jersey. This lantern for a long time sat on the hearth of the living room in the main house at Fair Meade Farm on Rt.94. I know that my great grandfather, Phillip Kiel, worked for the Lehigh & Hudson Railroad. The identification of The Central Railroad of New Jersey name on this lantern is an interesting one, for it evidences not only rail travel in the area but Warwick's connection to a vast network of railroads. The Lehigh & Hudson's Warwick train stops originated in Belvidere, NJ as many know. The L&H had many stops throughout Northern NJ, and it is not unlikely that this lantern found its way to Warwick through the common practice of borrowing and using other railroads' equipment, especially when they shared track and common destinations.

I discovered these two tintypes under the floor boards in the attic of 22 High Street in Warwick around 1973 or 1974. Mingled with these were some envelopes with postmarks from the 1890s. Unfortunately I kept the stamps but discarded the envelopes. There were also brittle copies of The Warwick Dispatch from the 1890s and a copy of The New York World with the headline "The USS Maine has been sunk in Havana harbor (1898)." The exact wording escapes me. If anyone has a clue to who these tintypes are of, please contact me.

This is a Christmas card sent from Grace [Pelton] Holbert (who I believe lived on the Pelton Farm, that is now owned by Tunis Sweetman, all of her life) to my grandparents, Paul and Emma Miller, in 1955. If this was the Pelton family's first car then is this Oakland Avenue in the background as I suspect in 1903? If so, it is likely that this was one of the first automobiles in Warwick.

One of my most treasured photographs, and one that is in very bad condition. The team of horses is presumably Paul Miller's when he rented the Lawrence (Sanford) Farm, circa 1937. The two bare-chested fellows in the photo are unknown. If anyone could verify that there was a water tower like the one on the right at the Lawrence farm at this time and why it was used please contact me. The structure might be an elevated corn crib? As of May 28, 2009, I have upon closer examination of this photo realized it was probably taken around 1942-3 instead of 1937 because a seemingly 4-5 year old Bob Miller ( Paul Miller Jr.) is standing next to the two fellows on the left. I didn't see that before because of the poor quality of the photo. My grandfather is at the reigns of the horses that are pulling a spring harrow.

Ice House and Granary

The building at the left is the former ice house at Fair Meade Farm. Notice the outlines of the doors that ran the entire length vertically of the building's front. The building at the right is the former granary. Notice how it is elevated to protect its contents from rodents. There were ingenious steddles holding the building up. These prevented rodents from running up the supporting posts and into the building where grain was housed. c.1963

This is the type of panel wagon that had doors at the back of it like those described and depicted in the following photographs and blog story. The man in the white shirt is my great grandfather Phillip Kiel, later of Little York and Warwick, working on a Coney Island, Brooklyn, ice wagon, c.1907

At the far left beyond the equipment overhang is where the original milk house was located. The cement block addition next to the truck is the newly constructed milk house, c.1950

Followers

Lydia Hasbrouck, third from left, in the toll room at the Warwick Valley Telephone Company, c. 1930s

1773 Colonial Half Penny, Unearthed on the green of the Old School Baptist Church, Warwick, NY (c.1973).

1773 Colonial Half Penny, reverse, Unearthed on the green of the Old School Baptist Church, Warwick, NY (c.1973).

Paul Miller on his Farmall H at Fair Meade Farm, c.1950

Farmall H at work on Fair Meade Farm, c.1950

Farmall H at Fair Meade Farm, 1952

Farmall Super M at Fair Meade Farm, c.1963

Paul Miller on his JD 4010 Diesel at Fair Meade Farm, c.1963

JD 3020 and Farmall C at Fair Meade Farm, c.1971

JD 4010 with bucket and five-bottom plow at Fair Meade Farm, c.1971

John Deere 4010 Diesel at Fair Meade Farm, c.1963

John Deere 4010 Diesel at Fair Meade Farm, c.1963

The following November, 2004 pictures are of the aftermath of the Webster Feed & Grain barn fire in Pine Island, NY. In addition to the tragedy of losing this landmark structure, there was a large collection of local Native American artifacts collected by Jack Webster and his late father destroyed by the fire.

Seven Rooms Cave, 1977

Seven Rooms Cave, 1977

Seven Rooms Cave, 1977

Seven Rooms Cave, 1977

Seven Rooms Cave, 1977

The Harriman, NY Mastodon

The Mastodon at Museum Village, 2004

Notice of the Finding of the Mastodon near Harriman, NY in 1952 and now housed at Museum Village in Monroe, NY